LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 19, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it lowered its long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (RBS) (the main operating entity of U.K. bank holding company The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBSG)) to 'A+/A-1' from 'AA-/A-1+'. At the same time, Standard&Poor's lowered its long-term counterparty credit rating on RBSG to 'A' from 'A+'. Additionally, the 'A-1' short-term counterparty credit rating on RBSG was affirmed. At the same time, the long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on rated RBSG subsidiaries National Westminster Bank PLC, Ulster Bank Ltd., and Ulster Bank Ireland Ltd. were lowered to 'A+/A-1' from 'AA-/A-1+'. Furthermore, Standard&Poor's lowered its
